The One That Just Won't Go Away
by cate's corner
Summary: Steve takes Danny fishing for his birthday - you just know what's going to happen! Steve/Danny friendship


I've had this idea for a while, so it's nice to finally get it written and submitted here. I've tried to show the break between the two parts, but I can't get it to format correctly, so I've just written Part One and Part Two to show it instead.

I thought it would be fun to show the boys 'off-duty' for a change. So thanks to Danny's birthday, I'm taking them fishing. Unfortunately, Steve is in a mischievous mood, so you know it won't end well. Let the fun and games begin!

The One That Just Won't Go Away

Part One

Danny Williams had a face that spoke volumes. Its range of expressions knew no physical bounds. And Steve McGarrett hated it, he _really_ hated it, when his partner looked at him like this. Eyebrows raised, forehead furrowed. The trademark expression that he saw, to his cost, every day.

'_Are you nuts_?'

For so many reasons, especially for what he had planned for today, it was the last face that Steve wanted to see. Danny's reaction, when it finally came, didn't help either. It matched his expression perfectly.

"_Fishing_? For my birthday, you're taking me… _fishing_?"

A pause, a quizzical head-tilt, before a rueful smile of realization spread over Danny's face.

"You've been talking to my mom, haven't you?"

Busted!

Despite his exasperation, though, Steve could read the appreciation beyond it. His reply, in return, held all the seriousness that the sadness he'd seen betrayed in Danny's eyes deserved.

"Well, yeah. I know you're homesick, Danny, and… well, it's gotta be worse on your birthday."

"Yeah, it'll be my first one here," Danny admitted, his voice inevitably filled with thoughts of home. "If dad and I were both off duty together, we'd take a boat onto the Hudson… be out there all day."

Still smiling at the memory, Danny stole a glance at Steve's watch, then lightly punched his shoulder.

"Of course, he'd still let me _lie in_ first. At least let me finish my breakfast!"

"Funny, you don't seem the lie-in type," Steve shot back through a deliberately innocent grin – knowing there'd be hell to pay for what he said next, but enjoying himself too much to care.

"'sides, you're another year older, hitting the big three five. You can't afford to lie in bed all day."

Silence, for all of two seconds, before payback arrived in time honoured Williams tradition.

"Yeah, like there's _any_ chance of that with _you_ around."

There was a helpless grin on his face, though, as Danny pointed to the piles of tackle in Steve's truck.

"What, no shark cage?"

Pulling a suitable face back at him, Steve just shrugged, then grinned too as he subtly studied his partner. Joey had been around five nine. Danny was five five, (six if you counted the hair), and… yeah, he'd fit.

And yeah, for what Danny said next, the temptation to prove his theory was overwhelming.

"So you can actually fish on this pineapple infested hellhole?"

"Yes, we can fish here," Steve retorted, matching his partner's sarcasm with now practised ease. "This may stun and surprise you, Danny, but we're quite civilised. We even live in houses."

A derisive snort cast serious doubts on that. An hour later, though, all of that changed.

As Steve drove through Wahiawa Park towards its parking lot, Danny was clearly impressed.

"Wow!" he breathed, staring around him as if all his Christmases and birthdays had come at once.

"Yeah, not bad for a pineapple infested hellhole," Steve agreed, grinning teasingly back at him.

It continued the long running argument between them. For once, though, Danny didn't retaliate. Instead, to Steve's amusement, he became Wahiawa State Park's unlikeliest poster-boy.

"This place is just gorgeous!" he said at last, still staring around him with wide, delighted eyes. "I've got to bring Grace here, she'd love it, and… hey, this place isn't member only, is it?"

"No, you just need to make sure you have the right paperwork," Steve assured him – pre-empting the next, inevitable question with a broad grin, and two proudly flourished licences.

A thank-you would have been nice. A patented eye-roll was, as always, a silently eloquent alternative. Besides, another salvo of excited questions as they unpacked their gear was all the thanks he needed.

"This is a freshwater lake, right? So I'm guessing you get carp here? Bass? Maybe trout?"

"Yep, all of those, they've been specially introduced here. Tucanare too," Steve grinned, wishing he could bottle that exuberance and sell it as they headed for the nearest boat-ramp.

It might have been Danny's day for celebration, but he'd been looking forward to it too – a day of relaxation where the stress and strain of keeping this island safe could, if briefly, be forgotten.

More than that, though, he simply enjoyed Danny's company. Yes, he could be a prize pain in the ass at times, but his partner filled a hole in his life that he'd not even recognised. He was as much a brother now as he was a friend, with all the pitfalls and privileges that came with it.

And, of course, there was that special part of their relationship that Steve just _never _tired of exploiting.

"Hey, partner!"

"What?"

"Hook 'em, Danno!"

Part Two

There were times when Steve McGarrett would admit, although never aloud, that he had a death wish. Yes, he'd risked it once already today. Yes, he'd been lucky to escape with just an unscheduled swim. And yes, when he'd finally pulled him back into the boat, Danny had seen the funny side too.

Eventually.

But for all his special ops training, all those SuperSEAL skills, he just couldn't hold out against this. The temptation that had been rising in him throughout the drive home just wouldn't stay down.

Every time he glanced down at the cool-box between them, the same urge crept into his mind. Damn, if this was a cartoon show, there'd be a little devil jumping on his shoulder, egging him on.

'_Do it_! _Do it_! _Do it_!'

Tapping the side of his head didn't help either. It just attracted unwanted attention.

"Still got some weeds in there, Aquaboy?"

That settled it. To hell with the consequences, to hell with self preserving sense. Yes. _Yes_, he'd do it.

Glaring back at his friend, Steve took a deep breath, and started to calculate his options. By the time they reached the house, those calculations had been made from every possible angle – a final glancing check interrupted by a squealing voice that never failed to make him smile.

"Daddy!"

The response was, as ever, equally priceless as Danny dropped to his heels, his arms already open – staggering slightly as the world's smallest tornado swept between them into the centre of his chest.

"Hey, monkey!" he grinned, catching his breath for a moment, before lifting Grace into a proper hug. "Were you good for Kono when she picked you up from school for me?"

Nodding so hard that her pigtails bounced, Grace then held out an unmistakeably decorated envelope.

"Happy birthday, daddy! I made you a card!"

"Yeah, I see that!" Danny chuckled, still hugging her as he proudly studied her handiwork. "And you know where I'm gonna put this? On my desk, right next to Sergeant Siren."

If he was expecting Grace to be happy, or another hug, he was surprisingly disappointed. Instead her face fell, causing his to do the same, as she pushed a sizeable parcel into his hand.

"But you'll still have room for this present too! Won't you?" she asked in a warningly small voice.

Averting disaster with the speed that only fathers could manage, Danny unwrapped it, and held it up – so stunned by the photograph in his hand that, to Steve's amusement, he was completely speechless.

"Aw, monkey, it's beautiful! Yeah, you know I love my city, don't you?" he said at last – his reaction prompting proud glances above his head, and another hug that threatened to strangle him.

"I knew you'd like it," Grace explained, as excited as he was now as she pointed up at Steve. "I saw it on the internet, but I wasn't allowed to buy it, so Uncle Steve helped me."

Uh-oh. When Danny Williams looked at you like that, you never knew what would happen next. There'd never be bloodshed while Grace was around, of course. But afterwards was another matter. So it was a relief for Steve, _and_ Chin, _and_ Kono, when his face lit up with another broad grin.

"Well, in that case, it's going somewhere _real_ special, where _everyone_ can see it. Okay?"

Answered with another choking hug, Danny then rolled his eyes with another trial of fatherhood – satisfying the appetite of an eight year old child who could eat _all_ of them under the table.

"Danno, I'm hungry! We've been waiting for you and Uncle Steve to come home with dinner for ages!"

"We have the barbecue and rest of the food all set up," Chin added, leading the way to the lanai – wondering why his CO kept glancing behind him, back to the house, but thinking no more of it.

Instead he watched, as surprised as that CO and his cousin, when Danny stepped up to the grill. It was his birthday, after all, and… hell, in all their careful planning, they hadn't expected this.

For Steve, though, it was perfect. Just _perfect_. And that voice in his head was back, louder than ever.

'_Do it_! _Do it_! _Do it_!'

Okay, a final glance around him, one last mental run through, before _he_ started running for his life.

Subject conveniently distracted. Check. Escape route clear. Check.

_All_ the way to the house. Check.

A few stealthy steps closer to safety, to give him a decent start, and… yeah, that should do it.

Showtime.

"Hey, Danny!"

"What?"

"Cook 'em, Danno!"


End file.
